Soldatino
by KiraLiven
Summary: Bianca couldn't just leave without leaving a message for Nico, now could she? Inspired and I used this song. It was stuck in my head and I was crying. Nico and his relationship with his sisters. One-shot


**Soldatino has been stuck in my head for quite a while, and I just had to.**

* * *

Someone was singing. It was familiar, but Nico just couldn't place it. A piano was playing along with it.

_Close your eyes, I know what you see_.

He knew that voice, knew that song. He moved towards the sound. He couldn't place where it was from.

_The darkness is high, and you're in ten feet deep._

He could almost see the singer.

_But we've survived, more terrible monsters than sleep,_

_And you know I will be here to tell you to breathe_

The woman had her back to him, singing softly. Singing to him.

_Tu sei il mio soldatino (you're my little soldier)_

_La ragione per cui vivo (the reason i live)_

_Non ti scordar di me (don't forget me)_

_Io veglierò su di te (I'm watching over you)_

The song was Italian! For some reason, Nico was crying. The woman turned around, although the piano music kept playing, and Nico could see her face. The softly smiling face of Bianca.

_Stumbling lost; the last choice of all that you meet_

_It's the cost of ruling those 'neath your feet_

_Paths you've crossed, and trust you're trying to keep_

_You're exhausted, listening for a voice that can't speak_

Bianca reached for him, drew him closer to him. _(Ma Nico, mio caro)_ and cradled him the way she used to, when they were young and he had nightmares. He remembered where the tune was from. She used to sing him goodnight with this song. It was a lullaby that Bianca had made up, although Nico learned later that it was the lullaby their mother had sung to them too. Bianca had changed the words a bit, but the tune was still the same.

_Tu sei il mio soldatino (you're my little soldier)_

_La ragione ho vissuto (the reason I lived)_

_Non ti scordar di me (don't forget me)_

_Io veglierò su di te (I'm watching over you)_

Bianca sang at him. He sank to the ground, trying not to cry any harder than he was, but Bianca was there, she was singing to him, telling him she loved him.

_So you run; through shadows you roam_

_Seams undone by the love you thought you could own_

_But he's just one of many that you might call home_

_And maybe someday, the bitter will fade from your bones…_

Bianca pulled him back, as if to talk to him, tell him. This was important.

_Eri il mio soldatino (you were my little soldier) _

_Ora un principe oscuro (now, a dark prince) _

_Ma anche per te, c'è una luce (but even for you, there is a light) _

_Che ad un'altra vita ti conduce (that leads you to another life)_

No. What was she singing? It was as if Nico knew what she meant, because he was shaking his head. Bianca was still smiling sadly at him, leaning forward to plant a kiss at him. No.

Bianca got up slowly, and Nico grabbed at her hand. She couldn't leave! But even so, trying as hard as he could, he could not keep her from disappearing. It was slow, gradual, but eventually there was no hand in his, and all that was left was the piano playing softly in the background.

Nico woke up on his bed, the song still playing in his mind. He got up, pulling on his jacket and sword. He already knew what had happened, but he had to go see. It was just as well she had chosen the exact moment when Nico could _actually_ bring her back to life, wasn't it? Didn't she ever want him to be happy?

She wasn't in Elysium. The song was playing everywhere, and Nico couldn't get it out. It was just playing, as if from some invisible stereo in the Underworld. He felt like yelling at it to go away, and then at the same time wished it would bring her back to him.

But she was already gone. The paperwork had gone through, as the ghost Nico interrogated said. She had already gone through the river, already picked her new life, the ghost said. She might as well not be his sister anymore. Hades wouldn't see Nico.

He had lost everyone, the very day he should have gained someone.

And why was that song still playing in his mind? Why must it have been that song?

He wandered the Underworld, trying to look strong and purposeful, for his father's sake if nothing else.

And then he saw her.

"You're different." Nico said. "A child of Pluto. You remember your past."

"Yes." Hazel said. "And you're alive."

And everything fell into place again. He had a chance for redemption, had a chance to make things right. He could show that he could protect his sisters, that his life wasn't just death, that he could create, too. He'd show that Percy Jackson that he could be trusted, that he was better than him. He was more powerful, too, to bring someone back from the dead.

"I'm Nico di Angelo." He said. "I came looking for my sister. Death has gone missing, so I thought… I thought I could bring her back and no one would notice."

"Back to life?" Hazel asked. "Is that possible?"

"It should have been." Nico sighed, and the song played in his mind. "But she's gone. She chose to be reborn into a new life. I'm too late."

"I'm sorry."

He held out his hand. "You're my sister too. You deserve another chance. Come with me."

_We both deserve another chance._


End file.
